Friday, August 19, 2016

Let's learn a little about a British television and comics character you probably don't know about unless you grew up in the UK: Basil Brush!

Like another famous British pop culture legend, this guffawing fox hand puppet made his first television appearance in 1963, and tho' he's been on and off the air since then, still has a special part in the heart of his many, many fans who love his cheeky, irreverent humor, over-the-top Terry-Thomas impersonation, and fluffy, fuzzy tail. There's no real American equivalent of Basil  possibly the closest equivalent is Kermit the Frog, but while Kermit's known world-wide, Basil has never been a big hit outside the British Empire. Remember Topo Gigio? Pretend he's still popular in America today. And like Signore Gigio, Basil Brush has occasionally had his very own comic book:

And of course, in those comics, he had (as you may have guessed from this post) his own board game!

I became a Basil fan back in 2011 (when I was only six) when I holidayed in London and attended the BBC Radio 3 Comic Relief Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, at which I (and several thousand other concertgoers) set the Guinness World Record for Most Kazoos Played at One Time by People (and a Little Stuffed Bull). one of the show's hosts was  you guessed it  Basil Brush! Here's my personal photograph of of Basil from my seat. I really zoomed in on him.

Thursday, August 18, 2016

In this series so far I've shown you one or two early Doctor Who board games from the Doctor Who Annual. The BBC still faithfully puts out DW Annuals every year (frequently available for the "get 'em out of here" cost of 99p in your local British Waterstones' the day after Christmas), but the beautiful hand-drawn and -colored games of the '60s and '70s have given way to computer-designed, photo-illustrated, font-lettered games of today:

As you can see, nothing too game-changing (hah!) here in design or play, although if I were you, BBC, I would have deleted that second-to-last square because we're all still pretty sensitive about that.
But I wanted to spotlight this one because of its diabolically trope-breaking game counters. While the games (and I) usually encourage you to dig into your Paddington coin bank and dig out a few farthings and thrupenny bits, here it's absolutely necessary that you clip out the multi-colored Tardii:

It's the Legion of Multicolored Tardises!

The Green Doctor saves the earth but environmentally. The Red Doctor is annoyed that people keep wandering into his TARDIS to make a phone call. The Yellow Doctor is rich with potassium.

Panels from Back to the Future: Citizen Brown #1 (May 2016); adapted from the video game story by Bob Gale, Michael Stemmle, Andy Hartzell, and Jonathan Straw; adapted by Bob Gale and Erik Burnnham; script by Erik Burnham; pencils and inks by Alan Robinson; colors by Maria Santrolalla; letters by Shawn Lee

In the middle of scouring (well, not literally, as I haven't got a scrubby sponge) my British comics annuals for pop culture and comic book board games, I found this treat: a Spider-Man prose story featuring, and with a picture of, J. Jonah Jameson! Or, as he's called in the UK: Jamesoun.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Yes, it's Sam & Max, America's Favorite Dog 'n' Rabbit Private Investigators (take that, Sam Spayed and Auguste Lapin!) and they're traveling this great land of ours in a big gas-guzzlin' automobile, running down shady-lookin' hitchhikers and stopping in at Stuckey's for that delicious Pecan Log Roll. It's the American Way! And so is their board game!

Panel from Back to the Future: Citizen Brown #1 (May 2016); adapted from the video game story by Bob Gale, Michael Stemmle, Andy Hartzell, and Jonathan Straw; adapted by Bob Gale and Erik Burnnham; script by Erik Burnham; pencils and inks by Alan Robinson; colors by Maria Santrolalla; letters by Shawn Lee

* "Lady, Play Your Mandolin!" was the first Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Rudolf Ising of Harman and Ising. It was originally released in August 1931.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Yes, it’s Supercar, strange automobile from another planet! Who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal cars. Supercar, who can drive down the length of mighty rivers, made of steel constructed by bare hands! And who, disguised as Park Dent, mild-mannered taxicab in a great metropolitan city, runs a never-ending race for truth, justice and burning rubber! And now another exciting board game in The Adventures of Supercar!

The instructions show you that unlike most of the other games I've presented so far in this series, the object is not a race to the end, but instead a carnival-type spin-the-coin competition. Pennies and ha'pennies are suggested for use, but I am instead saving those to feed the birds. I'd recommend pennies and dimes, or, if you live in Latveria: Doomducats and Minidooms. For best results and to avoid costly harm to funriture, do not use the giant penny found in the cave beneath your home.

Riddle me this, Batman: When does it rain money? A: When there's "change" in the weather! Also, when you drop the coins on the playing board using the patented Batchute. No, not this...

...but this! It's a make-it-yourself spinner to twirl and drop the coin! Ask your parents if you can use scissors. That's just good advice all the time.

(Click picture to giant-centrifuge-size)

Follow these instructions to make the Bat-Chute! Unless you're one of those people who never reads instructions. You know who you are.

That's all you need to play Gotham Run! Aside from an actual desire to play Gotham Run.

Also: free at no additional pounds and/or pence, a games board for draughts or chess! I imagine you can use pennies and nickels for the pieces to play draughts, which is checkers with the windows open. For chess...well, just take the pieces out of your chess set and use those. And I suppose you can use the board in your chess set, too. Wait, this board is useless for chess!

Unless you've been hoarding these fine collectibles! Yes, the Batman Chess Set, each fine piece available from the Franklin Mint for a low monthly price of $79.99 plus shipping and handling for each elegantly designed chess...guy.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

The thing I love about this one is that the game track is actually Reed Richards's stretchy body.

"The Race Through Doom Castle" from Fantastic Four Annual 1979 (Marvel UK/Grandreams Ltd, 1979)(Click picture to Terror in a Tiny Town-size)

Yes, the only way this game track could be better would be if it took you down the Orange Brick Road. But here's the next best thing (even if it's not the right color because they're printed on one-colour pages):